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Grants office reports improved controls and warns HUD cuts could halt programs serving thousands
Summary
Commissioner Deborah Lannon told council the Department of Grants and Community Development improved reimbursements and monitoring, reported no HUD findings last year, and cautioned that proposed federal changes to CDBG/HOME/HOPWA would jeopardize services to low‑income residents.
Atlanta — Deborah Lannon, commissioner of the Department of Grants and Community Development (DGCD), told Atlanta City Council the department has reduced reimbursement turnaround times, strengthened monitoring and has no HUD monitoring findings in the past program year, but warned that proposed federal budget actions put critical entitlement funds at risk.
Lannon said DGCD processed more than 900 subrecipient reimbursements last year with an average turnaround of 22 days, a sharp improvement from prior years when reimbursements sometimes took many months. She credited updated compliance and monitoring practices and a merged program/fiscal team that assigns one analyst per contract for contracting and reimbursement duties.
DGCD oversees four HUD entitlement funds — Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA). Lannon said the department funds projects that last year served nearly 18,000 residents (CDBG/ESG/HOME) and that HOPWA serves a 29‑county area. She noted the department recently won a Healthy Homes grant for remediation work in the Westside Promise Zone and a Lead Capacity grant for outreach and readiness.
On the FY26 outlook, Lannon said draft federal budget proposals circulating in Washington would zero out CDBG and HOME and combine HOPWA and CDBG into ESG. She described that uncertainty as “a source of daily trepidation,” noting that frozen federal funds prevented DGCD from drawing on monies already allocated and expended.
Deputy Commissioner Nicole Barnes described monitoring reforms: desk monitoring within 90–120 days, biannual full monitoring of high‑risk contracts, and internal audits to prepare for HUD or single‑audit reviews. The department has separated training by grant type to improve application readiness and minimize returned funds.
Budget and staffing: DGCD has 81 authorized FTEs; 37 are general‑funded and 44 grant‑funded. Lannon said 12 of the general‑fund positions are currently vacant and that the department is focusing on filling six “mission‑critical” roles. DGCD’s proposed general fund request for FY26 increased to about $3.1 million, attributed primarily to pay adjustments from the compensation study and increases in contracted consulting tied to grant compliance, though Lannon said the department is moving to bring some consultant functions in‑house.
Why it matters: CDBG, HOME, ESG and HOPWA funds support affordable housing, homelessness services and health‑related housing interventions. Cuts or delayed draws on those funds would interrupt projects and subrecipient cash flow and could force the city to scale back services to low‑ and very‑low‑income residents.
Next steps and follow‑up: Lannon and staff said lobbyists and city advocates are working in Washington; DGCD will continue to administer existing funds and prioritize hiring mission‑critical positions. Council members asked about the department’s contingency planning and the administrative portion of grant funding that pays staff salaries.
